Although the ceasefire between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has completed one year, the residents of Tanghdhar border valley are apprehensive that the peace will not last long enough, as Islamabad is strengthening its defences.
"We are happy with the situation [of peace]...but it just might not last long enough," Mohammad Aslam Shah, a resident of Amrohi village on the LoC, told PTI.
Amrohi is just metres within the Line of Control, and Shah's house is just four metres from the Zero line. People from this side can see their counterparts on the other side and also their movements.
"The Pakistani Army has since [ceasefire] built concrete bunkers along the LoC and we can see movement of arms and ammunition to the posts as well. What is the need for replenishing the mortar stock and other war utilities if the ceasefire is going to be a permanent thing?" he asked.
Though Amrohi is on the other side of the border fencing carried out by the Indian Army, Shah said they [the villagers] had no apprehensions about being left out.
"The Indian Army has done a great job by erecting the fence, which is for the protection of the country as well as our protection. There have been several attempts of infiltration from the other side, but the fencing has helped in thwarting them," he added.
"It is difficult to put in words as to how much it [the ceasefire] means to us. This should last forever. The past year has been the first full year in my life when peace has prevailed," Gundi Saydan's Numberdar Syed Usun Shah said.
Gundi Saydan village has been one of the worst affected due to cross-border shelling over the past many decades, as it lies directly in the firing range of the Pakistani mortar guns.
The ceasefire has enabled the villagers to carry out activities that are taken for granted in other parts of the country, like children going to school, farmers attending to their fields and shepherds rearing livestock, he said.
"Earlier our crops would wither in the fields as the constant shelling would not allow us to do regular farming. The concern for safety of humans was paramount and that led to [the] neglect of livestock," Shah said.
The education sector, which was one of the worst hit during the pre-ceasefire days, has been a major beneficiary of the peace situation.
However, the residents and the civil administration are not taking anything for granted -- not even the ceasefire. They have, in coordination with the army, constructed nearly 1,500 concrete shelling protection bunkers, at a cost of Rs three crore, for the safety of people, in case the hostilities resume, Tanghdhar Sub-District Magistrate Khadim Hussain said. These bunkers are besides those already in place near all public places like hospital, schools and other offices.
The administration has availed of the peace opportunity to take development works further. One of the major projects has been the Pandu bridge, which has benefited nearly 3,000 people living close to the LoC, Hussain said.
A power project, built in coordination with the army, was completed in record time of two months for which Line Inspector Abdul Hamid was honoured. It is another story that he has not received the benefits of the award even after six months.
Hussain said works on other projects like Amrohi and Balthadiyan water supply schemes are in full swing. "We hope to make hay while the sun shines," he said in a proverbial reference to the ceasefire.
Having tasted peace for one year, the people of Tanghdhar valley, which remains cut off from the rest of the state and the country during the four winter months, want their demands to be looked into. On top of the wish list is a college in the area, Scheduled Tribe status for the residents who are all Paharis, more doctors for the hospital, a stadium for sports activities, an industrial training institute and upgrading the telephone exchange, which is out of order most of the time.
